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15 Ways to Reduce Your Plastic Use

You wake up this morning and go to brush your teeth. You then go get dressed and take a shirt and a pair of pants off your hangers in your closet. Before leaving for work, you pack your lunch for the day and put your sandwich in a Ziplock bag, pack a to-go fork and knife packet, grab a water bottle, and use a grocery bag to hold your items.

In just the 30 minutes it took you to get ready for the day, you used 7 plastic items, which could easily be replaced with more sustainable products, that will most likely find their way into the ocean where it will turn into a threat for marine life.

Plastic toothbrush

Plastic clothes hangers

Plastic sandwich bag

Plastic fork

Plastic knife

Plastic water bottle

Plastic grocery bag

We've come up with 15 ways you can reduce your plastic consumption to help create a more hopeful future for the fate of our oceans

1. Say NO to plastic straws...

...and say YES to reusable ones. We use more than 500 MILLION plastic strawsevery single day. Think about it: when you order coffee at a restaurant or cafe, you don't use a straw to drink it. So why do you need a straw for your water or soda? Saying NO to single-use straws is easier than you think. Restaurants and bars have the tendency to give you a plastic straw even before you have the chance to let them know you'd rather not have one, so make sure upon ordering drinks that you let your waiter or bartender know you are okay with no straw. If you would prefer to use a straw, there are great alternatives such as steel, bamboo, and glass straws that you can carry with you and can use them time and time again.

2. Bring a reusable shopping bag with you

More than 1 million bags are used across the globe every day and annually, about 500 billion plastic bags are produced. Whether you are going grocery shopping at the supermarket or going on a shopping spree at the mall, bring your own bag with you. Most reusable bags are only about 99 cents - a small investment to help out our planet.

3. Get rid of the plastic water bottle

Most stores and many companies make a variety of reusable water bottles. Made in all sizes, shapes, and materials, there is no reason to continue to use plastic water bottles. A single person using a reusable, refillable water bottle instead of single-use plastic water bottles can save as much as 170 bottles from being produced each year. If a family of 5 all hopped on board with this greener practice, that means as a family they would stop about 850 water bottles from having to be produced.

4. Pack your lunch in glass containers instead of plastic

Ditch the plastic Ziplock baggie and use something more eco-friendly than single-use plastic. There are many brands that make glass containers with lids for all of your packed-food needs. Mason jars are also another creative and hip way to pack your foods for lunch.

5. Avoid snacks/food with excess packaging

We're all guilty of this. You buy a huge plastic bag filled with even smaller plastic bags of snack-size chips. Think of all the unnecessary packing that goes into the food on the shelf. Also, some supermarkets will wrap each fruit or vegetable individually in plastic wrap. Instead of throwing it away, leave the plastic wrap with your grocer so that they can reuse it for other products.

6. Stop using plastic cutlery

When you get a take-out order, you will automatically be given a set of plastic cutlery. Before you take your food, make sure to ask for no plastic fork, spoon, or knife. Chances are if you are taking the food home, you have silverware readily available and do not need to waste the plastic cutlery. If you are taking your food to-go and bringing it back to work, keep a cheaper set of silverware at work that you can wash off and use over and over again. This also guarantees that you will never be utensil-less for another lunch again!

7. Choose cardboard over plastic when you can

Cardboard can be more easily recycled and unlike plastic, will biodegrade over time. While plastics can be recycled as well, buying products when you can that are in cardboard boxes such as laundry detergent will help to reduce the plastic that needs to be produced.

8. Swap out your plastic toothbrush

Whether you believe it or not, every single toothbrush affects the environment. One billion plastic toothbrushes are thrown out every single year, creating about 50 million pounds of waste annually. There have not been any scientific research results that plastic toothbrushes perform better over bamboo ones. Just like plastic toothbrushes, bamboo brushes needed to be replaced just as often, about every 3 months, but the handle of a bamboo toothbrush only takes about 6 months to biodegrade back into the soil. On the other hand, a plastic toothbrush will never biodegrade and will remain in the environment forever.

9. Avoid cosmetic products that contain microbeads

Countries are making this easier to do as more and more countries are putting a ban on the production of plastic microbeads in most cosmetic items. The UK is the latest country to issue a ban which will become effective beginning in July of this year. Millions of plastic microbeads are washed down the drain each year, posing a serious threat to marine life who mistake these small plastic particles for food. Choose bath and shower soaps that do not contain microbeads the next time you go to purchase one of these items.

10. Choose metal over plastic razors

Sure, a metal razor may be a little heavier to hold than a plastic one, but the long-term result of discarded plastic razors is even heavier on the heart. 2 BILLION plastic razors are discarded every year - and discarded does not mean they were recycled. Invest a little more into a reusable metal razor and ditch the plastic - but in a recycle bin!

11. Get the hang of using wire hangers

Almost any other type of hanger is better than plastic. Almost 90% of the clothes sold in the USA are imported from overseas. Unfortunately, almost every single garment sent over also comes on its own individual hanger - meaning 30-40 billion hangers are sent to the US every year. If you laid out all of these hangers, they would stretch 8 million miles, far beyond the orbit of ﻿the moon.﻿ Even worse? 85% of these hangers do not get reused or recycled but instead, end up in a landfill. Switch to metal, steel hangers instead. Steel hangers are 100% recyclable and not to mention, usually last longer than most flimsy plastic hangers.

12. While you're at it, get rid of the plastic hampers too

Speaking of flimsy, we move on to plastic hampers. Another plastic commodity that we can all live without. So what can we use instead of plastic hampers? Try bamboo! Bamboo products are typically sturdy and pose no serious threat to the environment. You can place a cloth burlap bag inside the bamboo hamper and easily take the bag out to do laundry.

13. Switch to e-billing

It's 2018... and you still get your bills mailed to you? E-billing may very well be one of the most overlooked green practices that we could all be doing. While there may not be a whole lot of plastic involved with receiving bills in the mail, there are many over ecological benefits for signing up for e-billing. The average American household can save 6.6 pounds of paper each year and avoid producing 171 pounds of greenhouse emissions. Call your billing provider today to get started on a more eco-friendly way to pay bills.

14. Paper newspapers are a thing of the past

That newspaper that sits on your driveway may seem convenient, wrapped in the unnecessary plastic wrapping. However, chances are, whatever headlining story will be on the front page of the newspaper has already aired on every televised news station and you've already read about it online. If you don't want to give up the joy of reading a newspaper, sign up for an electronic one! Companies make it easy not with iPads, Kindles, and all other forms of tablets to receive the news you want when you want it.

15. If it's plastic, think twice.

While this last point is not a specific item, we realize that there are many other ways to help reduce your plastic intake than the 14 listed on this blog. Everything from the toys that kids are playing with to the many plastic supplies used for a birthday party, plastic items are all around us. While we understand that avoiding plastic at all costs is near impossible, we encourage you to avoid it when possible and to think twice before purchasing a plastic item that can easily be replaced.

4Ocean Team

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29 Responses

Iris Holmqvist

October 24, 2018

You do really great work in the 4ocean. Thank you for that and I have your bracelets because of that.
However, I’d like to be pointed out that it is us – the users – who litter our environments of which the seas have hidden the trash. On the ground the trash is seen and mostly cleaned away. Therefore it would also be important to inform people to take care of the trash and not to throw it into the nature, but recycle it. Recycling would be the future as at the same time the cleaning of the past is in process.
In my country, Finland we have great recycling system and people follow that extremely well.
The underdevelopment countries e.g. have people collecting materials from trash pits that are worth money. It would be great humanity work also to pay for collected material e.g. plastic that isn’t industrially valuable. I believe that is done somewhere, but to do so in greater aspect as well would be great.
It isn’t the plastic itself that has made this problem, it is us people who have thrown it into the nature.
In Finland there has been made developments for materials made of wood – such as cosmetic jars that decompose into the nature – that replaces plastic.

Krista de los Reyes

October 19, 2018

I just recently ordered steel straws and was looking up more ways on reducing consumption of plastics when I came across this article, and I am so glad I did! I have been enlightened on just how much plastic I am consuming every single day and I am absolutely disgusted of myself! I am currently preparing myself for the transition phase as I know it is hard to suddenly change the ways I am accustomed to, but I know this change about to happen is for the greater good. Oh and regarding grocery bags, the city government of where I live in here in the Philippines, passed a law years ago banning the use of plastic bags. Back then, people were so mad and even thought the mayor was crazy, but now we all have been used to it and are slowly reaping the benefits.

louis

August 30, 2018

let’s join forces! this sea needs to be saved! because we love this sea
I want to be part of your association

Wells Scheeler

August 29, 2018

This is great information and the world needs to think more about what we throw away.
I came across your site trying to learn how to dispose of garbage. Like a lot of people I used grocery store plastic bags as can liners. Then I throw them in the trash. I do recycle what I can but always feel guilty about the bags. I have been able to eliminate plastic water bottles by using a home distiller to make my own pure drinking water.

Esperanza

August 29, 2018

Excelentes sugerencias

Mimi

August 29, 2018

Great article. We really need to stop using plastic straws! Everyone needs to pitch in, and say no to plastic. You can buy reusable, biodegradable straws here: https://goo.gl/hGnBpB. I used them every chance I get.

caleb

August 29, 2018

plastic is bad for the sea

Rick Thomas

August 29, 2018

I try to be conscious of my environment and waste. Mankind is ruining our planet with so little care. Thank you for these comments of improving the world and for all you do

Polly P

July 26, 2018

Hi!
I’m part of a start-up developing an app that enables shoppers to reduce the amount of non-recyclable plastic purchased as packaging in grocery shopping. It’s basically an app/online shopping platform that compares how much non-recyclable stuff is included in your shop depending on which supermarket you go to. It suggests better alternatives and easy switches to make. Hopefully feedback on consumer choices will push the supermarkets to switch to more environmentally friendly packaging.

Above is link to market research survey. Any comments are very welcome to help this development go ahead!

Rosemary oshea

July 09, 2018

Thank for the inspiration and for making our world better.

Isabella

June 20, 2018

thanks it gives a lot of useful information

Bonnie Kean

June 13, 2018

I live in the middle of the U.S. and I’ve only seen an ocean once in San Diego. But where I live people LOVE to litter. It’s just such a shame that all that plastic ends up in the waterways and the oceans like it does! Anything I can do to help, I’m more than willing to try. I think you are all doing a wonderful thing with 4Ocean!

Patricia

June 13, 2018

Why not making a law that will make all stores using plastic bags? I’m French originally and just went i left my old country for my new one we were doing our shopping with big back (we all loved the Ikea ones) to buy our groceries and it was ok. When i arrived here in 2000 of course i had with me my Ikea bag and people were staring at me in the way woah that’s very convenient. And yes it is, 2 o 3 heavy plastic bags cut blood circulation of your hand . When i go to the fresh market i have a backpack with icepacks to keep fresh, i have a large plastic container (i know i haven’t found 1 as big as this one in glass but all others are glass) so i carry it to put all red fruits, so convenient you arrive you just have to put it directly in the fridge. Plus my fabric bags I’m ready to buy my bio fruits and vegetables.
So the real story here in around 1999 France Government decided to ban plastic bags at all stores. So either you bring yours or you can buy at the cashier a plastic bag but it’s not cheap you don’t buy them for a full shopping card. We are used to it and i’m still shopping like that. I also avoid, when possible to use the plastic bags to put vegetables. Why not getting paper bags? At wholefoods market you do have some but not enough.

Harbor Chidi

May 31, 2018

Wow! this is more than inspiring. Thanks a lot for the orientation. I promise to do my best to apply all this information

Robert Mira

April 26, 2018

Love what you guys have started and you have my full support. I started by purchasing the bracelet but still want to do more. I grew up in an island and was always blessed to be close to the ocean. I live in the Washington, DC area now and would like to know if there is some kind of 4Ocean group in my area so I can be a part of it. Let me know.

Shannon Y Towle

March 20, 2018

I’m so happy to support your efforts and look forward to receiving (and sharing) the bracelets I ordered today. In reading your story, I was hoping to see some suggested sources of bamboo products I can order to replace the plastic items I currently use.
Thanks.

heidi b merz

March 12, 2018

Hello! I live near the Ocean and collect the trash when I go out for walks, my bag is always too small. Those wonderful burlap bags you have in the video, how about you sell those! I would buy one or 2 or maybe a dozen and give them to friends to expand the coastal cause. They have the logo and I love to talk to people! And they certainly compost! Think about it! Hearts from Oak Island, NC

Suzi

March 11, 2018

Good, accessible & user friendly ideas which led me to thinking of the following…

After purchasing the 4Ocean 2-Pound Pack I (I’ve) decided to keep (kept) the limited edition bracelet & (sent) send the other, along with this note, to a likeminded friend with the challenge to ‘pay it forward’. The idea is for your friend to buy at least, one 4Oceans bracelet to give to another likeminded friend along with this ‘pay it forward’ challenge, therefore creating the ripple effect. (Pardon the pun ?).

That then gave me the idea that if others did this when they bought the 4Ocean 2-Pound Pack, awareness would rise & maybe you could ‘capitalise’ on this by creating the 4Ocean 2-Pound Pack ‘Pay it Forward’ campaign!
This idea not only promotes the cause & necessity of cleaning & keeping our Oceans clean but also gives each individual who takes up the challenge a more definitive sense of purpose. A record per say, of their own individual ‘ripple effect’ they may look at, as time goes by, giving them a picture of actually how much a great impact their original purchase has had.
… Just a thought.

Cheers & thanks so much for your fantastic work.
Suzi, Australia ✌?

PS. I’ll let you know if my friend takes up the challenge.

Fletcher Young

February 25, 2018

A great cause giving us alternatives .

Daphne McCartney-Williams

February 22, 2018

Thank you for introducing simple changes to our lifestyles that we can all embrace. I already do most of these.

Gloria Smith

February 18, 2018

It i s time to be responsible stewards of our planet

Marcelo de Souza Oliveira

February 18, 2018

Plástico…we’ve come till present time with it, and It has “saved” us a lot…Hope we van now save us from It before it “covers” us at all…
Thanks for the tips…
Now I will share this marvelous text around.

Joy evans

February 18, 2018

Please don’t just bin it use it till it is no longer useable then replace it

Sheila

February 17, 2018

So thankful you and others are doing such a wonderful job of helping to educate and eradicate plastic from our oceans.
Keep up the great job.

Dee Moore

February 17, 2018

It can be disheartening at times when walking along my local beaches & bushland to see what people have left behind after a trip outdoors, all you can do is your part to remove what you can.

It is a daunting challenge to undo what damage our species has done, however, knowing that your organization & others like you are out there are doing their bit is encouraging.
Thanks for all that you do & helping to educate on plastic alternatives.

p.s love showing off my bracelet

- Dee, Australia

Maureen Murphy

February 17, 2018

I think plastic producers should join your efforts, even made legally responsible for the end of life of what they manufacture by having to produce only recyclable plastics.

Also, #16 could be call companies who’s plastic bags are not recyclable and encourage them to only use recyclable plastic and to clearly label their products.

Tonya Hunt

February 17, 2018

Wow some great eye openers??

Azra Shamsie

February 17, 2018

We all should follow these to save our beautiful planet earth

Joy Wilson

February 17, 2018

Go to a farmers market where you can buy fruit and veg and bread and cheese and flowers and cakes without plastic . And you can juice in glass bottles.

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